I agree that my HL is really just a tall Camry station wagon and I will not be doing any rough off-roading. Did a search at Tire Rack and the only other passenger tire in the 225/70-16 size besides my current Goodyear Integrity are the Michelin Symmetry and judging by the user reviews they are not any better than what I have now.

My wife's 02 Altima just came in. It has Continental All Season tires. Another ,same model, has Bridgestone Turanzas. Any advise on these two would be appreciated. Noise,handling,traction,etc. I have a few days for delivery and,if justified, I could ask the dealer to switch. Thanks.

I guess the question I have is, what's wrong with the Integrity's? If there are specific things you do not like about the tire then I'd understand the reason behind a switch. But based on your description you want a smooth all-season tire and that's what the Integrity is. The other choices are rather "trucky". I'm thinking the sacrifices you'll make for them will more than offset any winter traction benefits.

If it were I'd buy a set of good winter tires and switch at first snowflake.

might want to know this. A few years ago, I asked my wife to get the tires rotated on our '98 Ranger. The quick lube place advertised the service but wouldn't do a truck. My wife went to BJ's club and asked about rotating the tires. Although we had not bought the tires there, we could buy the tire service. They re-mounted and re-balanced the tires while performing the rotation. We were entitled to the lifetime rotation service (every 7k miles) as long as we owned the car. The service cost about forty bucks.I thought it was a pretty good deal. Never cashed it in, the truck was totaled about 6 months later.

come in 215/65 16 size. 225mm in the 16" diameter tire usually has an aspect ratio of 60 not 65. I would go for the Bridgestone LS/T ($75) over the more expensive but slightly more comfortable Michelin X-One($111)in 215/65 16. Checkout the tirerack.com for your choices and make your local tire shop match their prices. You have to add the shipping costs plus mounting/valve stems/balancing plus tax. I never pay for the extra road hazard or siping add on charges because I buy quality tires and most shops fix flats for free. When I last had a blowout in 1989 I just purchased a new replacement tire.

Thanks - Our driving is 80% around town - stop and go. When we are on the highway the fastest we've ever gone is 80, but most often top out at 70. WE only have 29k on the car, but the tires are worn out. Would a 215 60 16 tire fit on the rim? I had thought to get X-Ones, but the dealers around me don't have them in the right size and Costco carries them as X-Radial Plus which they say are identical to X-Ones. Anyone know?

Yes, the X Radial Plus is essentially the same tire as the X One, just rebranded for the warehouse clubs. Keep in mind that the warehous clubs are the only places that will provide warranty service. The typical Michelin dealer won't mess with them. Same goes for private-labeled Goodyear, BFGoodrich, Bridgestone, etc.

for 215/60-15 in my favorite Michelin X-ones. They don't make X-ones in that size. Asked the local Sam's club whether they would mount 215/65-15 instead. Only a 2 mph speedometer error at 65 mph. They said no, only what the car manufacturer lists for the vehicle.

My next choice is Dunlop SP sport A2s. But they aren't as cheap as I was led to believe. Yes @ Tirerack they are $58 each but locally I can get them mounted and balanced for $89 each. This is getting close to Michelin range.

Absolutely outstanding tires for rain, excellent for dry pavements. When I bought the tires, they shared the top and second place in its category according the Tirerack user surveys; currently even better tires became available, and the SH-30 were relegated to the 3-rd place.

If I remember it right, the price of my tires, including mounting, stems, balancing, taxes, and disposing of old tires was about the same as your quote from Dunlop. Additionally, I paid about $50 for alignment, and bought road hazard insurance from Firestone. Used it once, when caught a screw.

Checked out the SH-30s. But I am looking for a better balance of snow performance and ride comfort. I know people who have SH-30s and SP-A2s. The person with the SP-A2s is particularly sensitive to ride comfort and gave the thumbs-up for that. The person with SH-30s has dedicated snows (so no input there).

I didn't initially consider the Dunlops because I wasn't looking for a high performance tire. But tire rack surveys are convincing me on the overall balance of the SP-A2s, although when actually looking at the Dunlop tread design, I question their snow performance. We didn't have hardly any snow this season (upstate NY) so no direct input there. I wonder if the tire rack survey conclusion on the SP-A2 snow performance is biased because people bought them as a high performance tire.

Has anyone bought pilot exalto tires. they are a summer tire.Designed for sporty compact cars. They are supposed to offer great handling and great wet performance.They are new so not much being said about them.

I recently replaced the GY Integity tires on my RX300 with Michelin Cross Terrain tires. Same quiet smooth ride but they have a lot more traction. The GY's would spin on starting on wet roads unless I appiled the gas VERY gently. I can't make the Michelin's spin on wet roads. The thought of having to make a panic stop with the Integrity tires .... I've had the Michelin CT's for about 4K miles and am very pleased with them. Many others have also make the same change on their RX's and also been pleased with the CT's. They are not cheap but have a 65K rating so they should last awhile. And if you ever have to stop is a hurry on wet road you'll be glad you have them. The Michelin LTX's is also an excellent tire from numerous post I have read.

SH-30 are not great in snowstorms. Not really bad: in my 6 mile commute ABS typically kicks up once when it snow. However, definitely not outstanding. For Southern Connecticut it does not matter, but for upper NY I also would consider other tires.

Skip the pep boys futuras and go for the Sumitomo HTR 200 for $38 per tire from the tirerack. Or checkout the Dunlop SP Sport A2 at $51 if you want an A/S HR tire with good treadwear. I like the the Yokohama AVS Intermediates at the closeout price of $52 if you want VR bliss for a year or so. I used to have the AVS on my '85 CRX Si around 1990- they were lots of fun in the dry.

We're about to replace the OEM tires on our MY 2000 MPV at 36,000 miles. After research (including all the helpful comments on this board), I was leaning towards Michelin X-ones. However, the OEM Dunlop's (16") are H speed rated, whereas the X-ones are S rated, and the guys at the local tire shop said that we should stick with H rated tires if that's what's on the van now. Is this really necessary, or can I go to the lower speed rating?

Some tire shops will not put on a lower speed rated tire than the OEM for legal reasons. A higher speed rated tire usually has higher temp and traction ratings and might be stronger. If you put the X-Ones on your MPV make sure it can handle your OEM load rating and don't drive over 100mph to be extra safe.

Most people tend to focus only on the "speed" part of speed ratings. There's alot more to speed ratings that just being able to drive fast.

Generally speaking, the higher the speed rating, the more robust the construction and the higher quality of materials. Now, I know that stands to reason but it does affect how well your tires perform and how long they can last.

Some cars are notorious tire eaters. One that comes to mind is the Infiniti Q45, 1st generation. OE tire size is a wimpy 215/65-15. The suspension design of this car was one of most advanced ever on a Japanese car. The car was designed from the outset to drive and feel like a true high performance sport sedan. This design put an incredible strain on the tires, fronts especially. To get any tire life at all owners needed to run a V rated tire, regardless of how fast they drove. A lower rated tire would simply get eaten up in 15,000 miles. Cheapo V rated tires wouldn't last much longer. Durability came only from top quality V rated tires.

Even if you're not driving a car like that, higher speed ratings provide a larger safety margin. Tires run cooler, sidewalls are stiffer so they handle emergency situations much better, driving at interstate speeds is not stressful for a speed rated tire providing a larger safety margin. This is one area that played a role in the Explorer/Firestone tragedy a few years ago. The Firestones on Exploders had a speed rating that was quite low. Many of the problems arose when vehicles were being driven at high interstate speeds; 70+ MPH. At those speeds the tires were at or above 80% of their max speed rating - little room for error. Add to this high surface temps on the roads, owner negligence, and a tire whose quality was shoddy right out of the mold and you have a perfect recipe for disaster.

Now, I'm not saying a low speed rated tire is gonna cause accidents so don't infer that. What I am saying is that higher speed ratings provide a safety cushion that is invisible until you really need it. It's up to each of you to decide whether that cushion has any value.

That cushion is not quantifiable. Thus it is totally judgement. And for Imn908 to make that call becomes purely emotional. So you just told Imn908 to pass up an excellent tire and find an H rated one or, is a V rated tire a must based on your discussion.

What you said has merit but not very helpful to Imn908 in making a decision. (too open ended)

The X-ones are a good choice. I've run them on a mini-van and a sporty sedan. Two very different vehicles but the quality of the X-ones is evident in each application in terms of wear, handling and ride quality. Even my wife can tell the difference between the X-ones (or Plus's) and lesser tires.

There was an article in Kiplinger Magazine about the Explorer tires problem.

The tires were rated "C" concerning heat resistance. It is the minimal rating for tires which can be legally used on public roads. The requrements were explained in the article. I remember very well that these requrements are surprisingly low. Something like the car can be driven 2 hours at 75 mph, after this 1/2 hour at 80 mph, and finally 1/2 hour at 85 mph, without tire damage. Am not sure if I used the precise numbers, but something in this kind.

This is with properly inflated tires and properly loaded vehicle.

Speed rating of tires was not discussed specifically in this article, but, as you can see, the heat rating is directly related to speed. A typical touring tire, rated "T" or "S" for speed (112 - 118 mph), has heat resistance rate "B". Performance tires, rated "H" (130+ mph) have heat rating "A".